AIBU to ask where the hell can I take seven people on holiday without bankrupting myself?!

[Whysomany]

Not really an AiBU but posting for traffic after weeks of research and coming up blank.

Promised the kids a holiday, specifically abroad, as they've never been. August 2024. Made the mistake of promising before fully researching and quite frankly I feel a bit fucked now.

I think they'd all like to travel by plane having never done so before and probably unlikely to again but blimey, flights for seven people. I severely under estimated. Looking at driving instead. This we can do but DH doesn't want to drive too far because his car is old and crap, basically.

Originally looking at South of France, Italy, Spain, etc. They all seem out now because of flights and hire car costs. And I don't think I could persuade DH to take his car that far. I have since looked at pretty much every destination in Europe...

All I've got at this point is a week in the Netherlands but honestly at this point, that feels a little disappointing after dreaming of a hot destination and somewhere a bit further away to the UK.

Am I doing something wrong or basically I'm right and it's just not doable? We were looking at Eurocamp and the equivalents.

No set budget. Originally looking at 2.5 - 3k plus food, days out, etc. Might be able to go a bit higher.

Ah, I was going to suggest Tui as some of their Greek holidays are coming in at 3.5k but that was before I saw that some of your kids are adults - I had put in made up ages for 5 children.

Turkey last week of August EasyJet

I booked flights last year for this 6 weeks break as soon as they come out.

it was £855 for 4 flights so about £213 each…. That was to Spain. Roughly the same price would work out about £1.5k for you.

Maybe look for a cheap air Bnb or a 2* hotel?

Train? Could you get rail passes? You can get Eurostar then train across Europe - although with seven of you that might be quite an undertaking
Ferry to Spain? Then you can have your own car?
They are not as good a trade as before but clubcard vouchers?
Also don’t forget to factor in passport costs if you don’t have them…

Ages are approx. 6, 12, 16, 18, 20

But yeah, have been looking at booking everything individually

Christmas we budget 800 and that's for everything, food, gifts, etc.

I know you'd prefer south, but how about France but further north to make it more drivable? I remember an amazing family holiday at a campsite in Carnac-Plage, Brittany, and the eurocamp ones look pretty affordable.

And depending on what sites I look at quite a few of the kids count as adults.

So it looks like either 4 adults 3 kids or 5 adults 2 kids.

Which is your nearest airport?
Years ago, a friend and I went to Rome, as we looked for the cheapest flights from our local airport. Rome was cheap, so Rome we went to.

Family of 9 here.. we do haven holidays, pay all year leading up to it! Then save like crazy for the spending money! It’s tough.

In the past we’ve done some quite inexpensive holidays to France where we’ve hired a house with a pool, we found Lot quite reasonable, how you get there may be an issue, we drove and did Dover-Calais as that’s cheapest, could you hire a car for the week?

We're south east so any London airports are fine plus ferry and tunnel both under 45 mins

I just did a quick search input easyJet flights 3 adults 4 kids , last min price flights to Seville aug 23- sept 1 price was total 1186 - apartment in Seville for same dates on booking.com 1690 euros - so it can be done and I literally found this In 5 mins

Look at the vendee in france. Half the distance, if you can get a decent deal on the longer ferry it can be fairly quick. Almost as warm. Look at mobile homes on a site, check independent prices as well as through brochures. Another option, not as guaranteed weather wise but i can recommend an amazing little chateau in Brittany manor de kervy though it's currently closed for renovations which might mean it reopens at a different price point (it was amazing value).

The Netherlands is a fantastic destination for a family holiday. You could Eurocamp near the coast and be close to miles and miles of golden sand. Loads of family friendly attractions and the towns are all very pretty.

Or France Brittany or Normandy. Last week of the summer holidays is cheaper. Find a holiday park close to the French side ferry port.

My kids prefer ferry to flying. You can take more of your home comforts and bring food and booze for home. The ferry is an adventure in itself and a lot less stressful than flying.

Hi OP,
Just throwing in a wildcard. This trip was pre-covid era so bear that in mind that costing was some time ago.

My husband and son flew into Venice, spent a night there. Got a train to Rome and a couple of nights there, including a day trip to pompeii, got a train to Pisa - went up the tower. Spent a night in Pisa flew back from there. The trip was all in around £500. That's flights, accommodation, trains and spends. The whole trip was based around which flights were cheap - that determined where they flew into and where they flew out of. Their return flights were around £70 each.

How it was so cheap ....Feb half term. So it was warm clothes and rain macs. But they had an amazing time.

What sites do you use for looking at houses / villas?

Dover to calais is fine. DH is happy to drive anywhere within 5 hours of calais but ideally no more because the car is a heap of crap which is annoying really because if we had a more reliable comfy car he'd happily drive right down to the south 12 14 hours ish.

Hire cars are quite cheap until you need a 7 seater haha. We looked at hiring a car to drive down to the south but the 7 seater we so expensive compared to getting a small car.

Returm Ferry from Portsmouth to bilbao (£1500) from 6.-13.August 2024, plus hotel via booking.com- 3 rooms, hotel bilbi. £1600.

Skyscanner for flights! Find a cheap location and then search for property!

Madrid for 7 nights flights and accommodation (no transfers) coming in on budget

Can you stretch budget yourselves at all? Failing that, can the oldest child who is earning pay for him/herself and next oldest sibling and you agree to pay back money over following year/six months?

If you have got / can borrow enough camping equipment, and don't mind camping, you can do holidays quite cheaply in France - there are some nice campsites in Normandy and further down on the west coast. If you got the ferry over to Cherbourg there are even some good sites on the Cherbourg peninsula itself so hardly any driving. Beautiful beaches in Normandy too, weather would probably be a bit like Cornwall. Further down, Noirmoutier is near Nantes and popular.

Thank you for this!!

Not sure what airport is local to you but check out ryanair flights to Reus - its a ten minute bus or taxi from Salou and surrounding smaller towns.

I know prices will vary a bit but i selected a random week in September this year and could get 7 return flights from Birmingham to Reus for £1700 and then looked at Estival Park in La Pineda which is nice and you could get two apartments in a bed and breakfast basis for £1000 Euros

La Pineda/ Salou have great beaches, theme park, water park, and its just over an hour on the bus or train to Barcelona for a day trip

That would be worse than not going at all. Make the poor kids feel like burdens.

This is do-able for your budget. Look at onthebeach.co.uk for 2024 deals - can get a week in self catering including flights in Spain for 7 of you for under 2k. Worth a look!

Something like this https://www.vrbo.com/en-gb/p6125250?adultsCount=4&arrival=2024-08-24&childrenCount=3&departure=2024-08-31&uni_id=3768735